Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique to perform planning for puncture.
Description of the Related Art
Minimal invasive treatment is an effective treatment method, which exerts minimal physical burden on a patient and can reduce post operative medical treatment and decrease a rehabilitation period, and is advantageous in terms of reducing medical cost. A minimal invasive percutaneous treatment method that is attracting attention is a localized treatment, where a puncture needle is inserted into an organ from outside the body, and a radio wave, a microwave, a laser or the like is irradiated causing necrosis of tumor tissue.
In the puncture treatment, it is demanded that the puncture needle is accurately inserted so that the tip of the puncture needle reaches a target segment, such as a tumor. For this reason, puncture is normally performed while checking the position of the target, such as a tumor, in an intravital image acquired by ultrasound, CT, MRI or the like. However, the needle may bend or the intravital tissue may deform when the needle is inserted, hence it is not easy for the tip of the needle to accurately reach the target segment, even if guidance based on an intravital image is used.
Therefore a method of using computer simulation with an organ model has been proposed as a prior art emphasizing accurate puncture. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-271546 discloses a method for correcting a path of the needle using a puncture robot by recognizing the actual bending and position of the needle by a force sensor and image information, and predicting the operation of the needle in the organ by simulation using a model of the organ.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-226087 discloses a method for determining the propriety of the insertion conditions by providing position, angle and speed where the tip of the needle is contacting the surface of the organ, as the insertion conditions, and simulating an error when the needle is inserted from this position at a predetermined angle and predetermined speed.